Pre blast noted two doses of No Rest. With a start time of 4:45 no rest is a given. At 4:45 we warmed up (6 of us) and the Q stalled waiting on the other pax to show who promised to bring heavy things to help our workout. While waiting somehow the Q laid a phone like an egg during side straddle hops that sure got the rest of the Pax attention and led to a fury of smart remarks.
At 4:50 the promise was fulfilled and Eeyore and Magnus appeared, Eeyore in tow with props. From there we pulled out a timer and set it for 2 minutes. We did 2 minute reps of Curls, Merkins, Squats, WWII situps, chest press and skull crushers. Well skull crushers were modified to 1 minute. In between these joyus exercises we ran a quarter mile lap. We repeated this cutting time for each exercise in half as well as the running distance. At 5:31 we concluded not rested but tested. Since Bouncy felt left out of the preblast tags Dingo was shamed and guilted into committing to tag Bouncy in the Berean preblasts for the forseeable future, not sure he will like the pressure of a 4:45 workout every Monday am but that is what you get when you complain!
After we all caught our breath we started some coffee and 3rd F discussion on Rest and The Sabbath. A non rested Early Gray joined us after working a long shift! We started with some Old Testament references to Sabbaths and the Sabbath in Exodus 20 and also read how the Sabbath was created for us-to benefit us, not for us to benefit the Sabbath in Mark 2:27. God resting on the 7th day is first seen in Genesis 2:2 with many more references in Exodus including 31:15 and 20:8. We discussed the origins of the Sabbath being on Saturday and how different areas of the church changed it to Sunday. Goat and Blackbeard were espeically helpful in this part of the convesation. We then started to focus on what the Sabbath means and should/could look like for us individually. I know I have plenty of room for improvement on this, having extra focus 1 day a week on my creator and my role as a believer. The pax had ideas of how to eliminte work, reduce or eliminate electronics, not turning on the work computer, focus on what music is played and many others. I know I walked away with a greater understanding of my need for a Sabbath, to slow life down, focus on what is important, and recharge. I have some ideas of how to work towards this but know execution will be a challenge just as anything that is rewarding is. Thanks to these men for their friendship, insight, direction, and motivation!